South Korea AML crackdown: exchanges dey fight 10m won “suspicious” rule

South Korea AML crackdown dey face pushback from big exchanges and their trade group. Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA), wey represent 27 registered virtual asset service providers including Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax, submit comments to oppose proposed AML framework changes. Main yawa na dem wan make exchanges report every overseas crypto transfer worth 10 million won (about $6,800) as “suspicious,” even when no risk dey. DAXA warn say this fit blow suspicious reports from roughly 63,000 cases last year to over 5.4 million per year for Korea’s five biggest platforms—about an ~85x jump—making AML compliance harder and more costly for practical purposes. DAXA still object to another proposal wey ask to verify customer data accuracy, saying e pass wetin the underlying law require. Regulators—the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)—open public notice period on March 30 until May 11, with final rules expected in July after legal and regulatory review. Meanwhile courts don grant interim relief in existing AML sanction cases: Upbit’s parent Dunamu win first-instance ruling wey cancel three-month partial business suspension, Bithumb get pause on six-month partial suspension, and Coinone secure temporary halt despite 3-month suspension and 52 billion won fine. For traders, this South Korea AML crackdown increase near-term uncertainty about compliance timelines and possible enforcement actions, wey fit affect venue liquidity. But final impact go depend on how the final AML rules land and on ongoing court outcomes.